Chasing the Downpour
by TransportedMoonbats
Summary: In order to save both the Pokemon world and her own from utter destruction, a girl follows a cryptic letter to meet her destiny. OC, mature themes, and harsh language. Maybe romance later on. We'll see.
1. Stranger Than Fiction

The lights swirled around in a dizzying, meshing formation. Despite the thunder booming outside, the lightning crackling to the ground, the buckets of water flooding the streets of this godforsaken run-down part of the inner city, the club boomed with the rich atmosphere of need and longing. It was a single, conscious desire: to be one. The inhabitants, packed wall-to-wall, covered in sweat and radiating heat to combat the chill outside, moved in synchronization. Cloth against cloth against skin against skin, and the neon lights illuminated the floor for brief moments. Eyes would meet, followed by hands, then hips. The celebration would never end, not until the sun came up.

Minutes, hours, millennia later, I managed to make my way out. I began, at first, to walk, then run through the streets, to avoid the torrential downpour that had been assaulting not only the city, but the entire world, for weeks. Sometimes, it let up. Long enough to dry. But it would return with full force, and there was never daytime. Not anymore. The world had been lost for almost two months now, and those of us that had any sense knew how to avoid the despair it brought. Clubs and dance halls were consistently full, consistently open, with alcohol flying off the shelves and undercover drugs probably being trafficked by the armful. Hallucinogens, antidepressants... whatever made it stop. At least for a little while. Or until someone figured it out.

When I finally got back to my apartment, I forwent a shower. I stripped, throwing my clothes aside, and fell down into bed, pillows and blankets strewn everywhere. My hand found the remote and I flipped the television on, but I could care less what was on. Everything was still spinning. I knew I had drank...at least a little. Maybe more. It was hard to remember. I shook my head and water droplets flew everywhere; it made me light-headed, as well, and I fell back with a laugh. My body was warm. Too warm. Kicking off the sheets, I fell further into myself, and the rain tapped insistently on the glass of the window behind me while I eventually fell asleep. The television lost signal, and white noise filled the room, accompanied by the gentle flicker of light.

_Complete emptiness. Absolutely nothing. It was suffocating, drowning-_

_A brilliant flash of light accompanied a single, disharmonic chord. It was wonderful and horrible all at once. Then, it resolved to a single, pure note. There was an accompanying, warm presence; comfort, but it seemed alarmed. I reached out, and came to the realization that I was falling. When I opened my mouth to cry out, no sound came forth. I felt like I was plummeting, like I was going to die. Then I hit water._

"Shit!" It was bright. That wasn't...normal. I blinked my eyes open, and it hurt. It was a few minutes before they adjusted, but the first thing I noticed was that I was looking at a sunlit room. Not my room, but a sunlit one, nonetheless. On a second look, I could verify that no, this was definitely not my room. That was, though, the least of the things I would want to notice.

I stumbled over to the window and flung open the curtains. Sunlight. It hurt, from lack of being exposed to it in over a month. It was warm, though, and I fought with the window latch until I forced it open. Oh, _god_...

It didn't smell stale and cold like the rain. It was bursting with life, and with color. I looked down, to see the bright glow of the grass, blowing slightly in the breeze. It was like seeing the world again, for the first time. I didn't know where I was, but I was just happy that wherever I'd ended up, it was _normal_ again. I would spend probably a few more minutes just soaking it in before I would turn to look for something to put on.

There wasn't a television in this room, but there was a computer, off to the corner. I frowned slightly at it as I pulled open a drawer, tugging out a shirt that, miraculously, fit me well. Lucky, I guess. Looking through another drawer, I found a few pairs of pants that were in my size; coincidence, I assured myself, or else someone else my size brought me home. I thought I'd gone home the night before, but...eh. I've woken up in weirder places, I suppose. Finding, not entirely surprisingly at this point, a pair of shoes that fit in the nearby closet, I grabbed a headband off the computer desk and flipped the monitor on.

Files, folders... was there not a desktop for this system? Oh, there it was. Strange...I couldn't find a browser anywhere. Well, I guess I wouldn't be finding the news after all. I turned it back off, then headed out the door and down the hallway. I emerged into the kitchen to see, across the bar, that the house was empty. Decorated very plainly, and also empty. There was an envelope on the table, sealed, and with something on the front. A name. My name. Frowning slightly, I picked it up, hesitant as I opened the letter.

_Valerie,_

_Right now, you're feeling confused. Maybe even scared. I can't tell you much in this letter, but I can tell you what to do next. My name right now is not important, just know that I am your friend. This world, and your Earth, are in danger. It's going to be up to you and me to save it, but I couldn't shift you close enough to be near me, or where we need to be. You will have to find me._

_Leave the house, and go right. At the end of the road is the school. Today is your graduation day. After the ceremony, you'll need to make your way towards a place called Sunyshore City. Take the next ship to a place called Kanto. I'll meet you at an island known as Cinnibar Island. _

_You're not going to understand what's going on, but I'll give you the short, short version. What you called animals in your world we know as something called Pokemon. They're more than animals, though. Pokemon are our friends. They are more sentient. They are our partners, who we travel with and learn with. Your graduation is from a Pokemon School; everyone will know you. You're going to be certified as a Pokemon Trainer. This is necessary for you to make it to me. Please understand._

_I'll try to be in contact with you as soon as I can. Trust me. I'll get you back home._

_-R_

...R? What in the hell kind of name is R...? I folded the letter, and put it in my back pocket, walking towards the front door.

The trip to this 'Pokemon school' wasn't long, but it gave me time to think. _Whatever kind of dream I'm having, it's a weird one. Pokemon...sounds vaguely familiar, in the back of my head, but I can't place it. I don't believe I'm in some other world, or whatever, but this place does feel different. It's not raining, either, which is uncharacteristic._

I've never been one to turn down a challenge, though, and 'save the world' is a hell of a challenge. I was no stranger to the idea- 'girl gets transported to another world, has to learn all their customs and ways, and then has to save the world with a mysterious other protagonist.' It just seemed so...cliché.

I would humor it.

"Valerie~!" The voice caught me off-guard, mostly because it was a voice I didn't know screaming my name. A bright-eyed girl with curly blonde hair bounced up to me, throwing her arms around me and nearly knocking me off balance. "Hey, girl! Nice to see you showing up late!"

"As usual." Another voice chimed in, this one much deeper. A darker-skinned boy was beyond the loud girl, giving us half a smirk. Both of them seemed about my age, maybe late teens or early twenties. "I don't know how you made it, Val."

"Oh, come off it, Malachi." The blonde girl stepped back, straightening my shirt where she'd thrown it off by crashing into me. "Valerie is the smartest student in our class. It's no wonder the Professor chose her as Champion, anyway."

"Yeah, well. I'm happy as an Elite Four." Malachi raised his eyebrows. "With you, me, Wyatt, and your boyfriend as Elite Four, though, I'm alright, I suppose. Can't say I didn't expect it."

"Damn right, we worked our asses off!" she wrinkled her nose. "Well, then, let's go! If we don't go, we're going to miss the Ceremony!" With that, she whirled off again, leaving me more confused than before.

"That's Olivia for you, huh?" Malachi chuckled. "Even one of the best Pokemon schools in Sinnoh has a couple of airheaded girls. Still, she's a great student, so I guess I can't complain." he shrugged one shoulder. "See you there, Valerie."

"Yeah." See you there. Of course. I didn't just learn your name or anything. It was going to be a handful just remembering all their names. I followed after him, with more questions than answers. Champion...? Head of the class...? I'd barely passed high school.

It had been easy to lay low at graduation, accept the applause for being Champion as it was announced, and leave with the backpack that apparently held the same weight as a diploma in this Sinnoh place. I hadn't learned much more by that point; I was officially a Pokemon Trainer now, which meant I could travel around Sinnoh, catch more Pokemon (in these little ball capsules they called Pokeballs), battle Gym Leaders, and become...well, the Pokemon League Champion, which was similar to the silly ranking system they had used for grading. There had been one thing that had struck me as completely odd, though. At the ceremony, in the audience, there were dozens of...well, I supposed they were Pokemon. Animals, of all shapes and sizes, and colors, even. With humans, like pets. I guess that was like the letter-writer had mentioned. I really couldn't take this. I would sleep, that night, and wake up back on Earth, in the rain-soaked world I knew. Maybe I'd had a bad trip.

Following the ceremony, Olivia, the girl from before, caught up with me and told me some people were having a dance party at their house. That was something I knew. I accepted her invitation, and went 'home' to change into the most appropriate clothes I could find (because oddly enough, my entire wardrobe was in this crazy dream world, go figure) and met up with Olivia before following her down to someone's basement. The music blared and the lights flashed; it was the most home I'd ever felt here. I danced until I couldn't anymore, stumbled back to the place I'd woken up at (which was still deserted) and fell asleep on the bed, ready to wake up to Earth again.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a cave. I was alone, until a shadowed figure approached me. No matter how close he got, I couldn't see his face, but when he opened his mouth to speak, I heard him clearly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I opened my mouth to respond, but again found that I couldn't. It was like talking into water. "I didn't bring you here to jack off!" A pause, and the figure slouched slightly. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping. It's just, I'm trying my damndest to save my world and your world, but I really need your help, Valerie."

I finally found it in me, somewhere, to speak. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" I sounded exasperated; mostly because I was. "Who are you? Why am I here? This isn't even real!"

"It _is_ real." he insisted, pleadingly. "Valerie, I can't make you believe me, but I can do one more thing for you." He held out his hand, and a book materialized in them; a thick book, and on the front, the word _Pokemon_. "This contains pretty much the basics.. well, everything you would have learned in school. It's taking almost all I have to get this to you."

"I can't read all that."

"You don't have to." He held it up, and I touched it; the book vanished, and I suddenly had a headache. "You'll know it when you wake up. Please, Valerie. They gave you a Pokemon, a Pokedex, and a map at your graduation. Please get to Kanto. I'm waiting."

"Wait, who are you?" It was no use. He faded away, and I jolted awake. It was the same room. In this Sinnoh place. With a moan of defeat, I put my head in my hands.

I was headed to Kanto.

_A/N: Forget you guys, I write what I want. Anyway, this is all premise, set-up, whatever. The next part will be about Valerie's Pokemon and some other things. Also this whole dang thing is full of PLOT TWISTS so stick around. Shoot me an email if you wanna chat about it. See you next time!_


	2. Whatever Happens

Being a Pokemon Trainer meant knowing your Pokemon. At least, that was what I had learned last night. I'd learned a lot that night. And it was still... sunrise, I determined, getting up to look out the window. I'm not sure how long that dance party had lasted, but it had been well into the night. I had definitely not gotten eight hours of sleep, even though my body felt as if I had.

Right. Knowing your Pokemon. I looked over to the backpack I had been given. I knew it had stuff in it, but I hadn't bothered to open it before. Only slightly grudgingly, I pulled it open, swearing under my breath as its contents spilled out onto the floor. "God, he-" I cut myself off, watching the rounded capsule called a Pokeball roll across the floor. That would be it, then. That would be my first Pokemon.

Whatever had happened in my dream the previous night, I'd learned quite a bit about 'Pokemon'. There were hundreds of different species, all with different powers and looks...and personalities. First Pokemon, especially gifted, were even more special. I followed the ball across the room, picking it up. All it would take would be to push the button on the front, opening the hatch.

No. I couldn't do it yet. Dismissively, I set it on the desk, finding clean clothes to put on. I took my time in taking a shower, letting the steam fog up the glass, which I wiped away by rubbing my hand over the reflective surface with a half-smirk. Oh, wow. It...it kind of hurt to smile. That was odd. I shook my head, rubbing a towel over my head to dryu my hair before getting dressed.

Very well. I also had a map of the Sinnoh region and a rectangle-shaped device that slid open to reveal a screen, which I believed used some sort of infrared scanner to determine what species of Pokemon it was pointed at. A Pokedex. Additionally, in a drawstring bag, I found a handful of empty Pokeballs, about five. I was supposed to be allowed to catch more, then. No problem. I didn't think I would be, really. I would...have to get attached, for that.

But would I really get attached to a Pokemon? They weren't from my world, I would have to go home as soon as possible anyway, and there was no way I could return the Pokemon with me. They weren't normal on Earth. But there I was again giving into this whole this-is-reality thing. Maybe I was missing the optimism, or maybe I was hitting it right on the head, but some part of me still wanted all of this to be some sort of elaborate trick my mind was playing on me.

There was also some all-inclusive brand of Pokemon food in the bag, I noticed. That was nice. I repacked the backpack and used the rest of the space for a few changes of clothes, and scavenged the kitchen of the house for a water bottle to hold onto, as well as a bag of some kind of jerky. There had been food at the graduation reception, and at the 'afterparty,' but I was pretty hungry, so I snacked on some on the way back. "Alright, let's see..." I muttered, and slid open the drawer next to the bed.

Ah, there we go. Other-world me seemed bright enough to save her money, if this was the form of currency, here. I would be good for a while, as long as inflation wasn't through the roof. I chuckled to myself, pocketing the wallet and the hand knife I found there, as well as something that looked enough like a phone to pass. I'd fiddle with it later.

I was about to walk out the door when I remembered. I turned to look at the desk, with the full Pokeball still resting there invitingly. My heart thudded in my chest. What if I didn't know how to take care of... well. In reality, the reason I didn't want to open it was because it was the reality. It was the last piece of the puzzle. If that Pokeball opened, and something emerged, and it was alive and belonged to me... there was no going back. I would have to accept it.

My hands were shaking when I picked it up. It felt as if I stared at it for an eternity. My grip on it grew tighter; I couldn't tell if I was getting angry or upset. Maybe a mix of both. With an internal cry, and an external growl, I all but threw it at the wall, turning away. The ball bounced off the wall, hit the floor, and opened- a dim flash of light filled the room, and then a high, happy trill.

"Seeen-tret!"

I looked back, hesitant. The sight that greeted me was somewhat startling. The creature in front of me sort of resembled a...well, some sort of rounded ferret-raccoon crossbreed. I crouched, and it bounded over gently, its striped tail trailing along behind it. It was actually...kind of cute.

"Tret?" It tilted its head when it got close enough, leaning forward to sniff my outstretched hand, its darker-colored ears falling down slightly, then perking up again. "Sentret!" I was accepted, it seemed, as the Pokemon leapt forward to throw its tiny arms around me.

Sentret. That was its name. Then again, I could name it on top of that. I reached over, trying not to drop the overenthusiastic Pokemon, and tugged out my Pokedex, aiming it towards my 'new friend'. It ended up telling me more information than I had anticipated: Sentret was a normal type, and this particular one was male. The name occurred to me even before I thought of it, the same name my last pet over in Earth had gone by. His name would be Theo.

"Hey there, Theo." I smiled, patting him on the head. This made him even happier, as he pulled his way up my shirt to rest on my shoulder, his tail swishing over the front of my shirt. I laughed, reaching up to pluck him down. "Careful. I'm not going to be able to bring a lot of shirts. Can't have you scratching them all up."

"Seeeen~!" He curled up just as happy in my arms, blinking tiny eyes at me. Oh, god, it was cute. This was already difficult.

"Alright, then." I smiled. "Ready to go? We've gotta make it to this Sunyshore place as soon as possible." I reached over, pulling open the closet, and pulled out a hat to put on my head, and, as a last thought, a scarf to wrap around Theo in the case that it got cold. Theo seemed overjoyed to be holding the scarf (then again, he seemed absolutely ecstatic about most things), wrapping it around his body and curling up tighter on me.

As I headed out the front door, I locked it, Theo in one arm and my map in the other. Perhaps with this Pokemon along, the journey wouldn't be as bad as I had initially thought.

_A/N: 100% more actual Pokemon. How about that. Anyways, now all this premise stuff is set up, Valerie can get to actually doing stuff. Fun things are about to happen, so stick around. Thanks._


	3. In My Dreams

As it turned out, traveling all day was a bit harder than I had originally thought. I can walk, I figured, all I have to do is continue walking all day. Even after stopping into a little café at the edge of town to grab breakfast, and a little more for lunch, I was hungry within a couple of hours. Theo didn't seem as bothered; I wasn't able to carry him for too long, but he seemed happy to bounce along aside me, clutching my scarf and making that happy trill noise whenever he found something interesting, like a row of big rocks or a stream. It really didn't take much to make Theo happy, I noticed.

It was mid-day by the time we found a place that I determined was a nice place to rest. It was a decently open area of the hilly fields and woods we'd been trekking down, and there was a river large enough that I couldn't jump across it. I tossed my backpack aside, and then sat down on the grass, sighing and falling back. I was exhausted. We might have to stay here for the night, I thought, rolling over to get out the map while Theo set my scarf down next to me and bounded down to play in the water. "Careful," I called, keeping an eye on him while he jumped from rock to rock.

At least the morning had been uneventful, I decided, narrowing my eyes a little at the map to try and determine where the river we were at was. It looked maybe a third of the way to the next city, which was called Veilstone City. I sighed heavily, accepting the idea that I would have to keep going today, at least for a few hours. I'd just need a rest.

I rolled back over onto my back, relaxing in the sun. It had been warm, and nice, even though I could feel myself getting sunburnt. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I registered as going on was my name being spoken.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep, Val." When I opened my eyes, squinting at the sudden light explosion against my retinas, it took a second before the boy from the day before unblurred. "You must have left pretty early this morning in order to make it this far. I thought you were staying in town for a while, too."

"Malachi." I was saying it mostly to make sure I had remembered properly. I opened my mouth to respond, searching quickly for an answer he'd like, but my eyes drifted to the Pokemon floating next to him, which I initially mistook for a large purple balloon. "Is that your Pokemon?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. This is Barro, my Drifloon." Malachi looked proud, and the Drifloon floated around in front of him to raise his…well, I supposed his strings, to rest on Malachi's head. He looked happy sitting there on the boy's head, tangled into Malachi's thick-looking dark hair. "Straight from the Weather Institute, I would wager."

"Of course." I agreed, smiling inwardly. I was really pulling this off. "Well, he's cute."

"Thanks. He's quite the fighter, too. We've been training. Have you been training at all?" Malachi asked, glancing down to my backpack. I followed his gaze, to see my Sentret curled up on top of it, tail curled around him, sleeping soundly.

"Not so much. His name is Theo." I added. "Where are you headed? I'm off to Veilstone City." As we continued to speak, Theo blinked his eyes open, stood up on his tail next to me, and fixed his eyes on Malachi's Drifloon interestedly. It was the first other Pokemon he'd seen all day, so he seemed excited. Then again, 'seemed excited' was absolutely an understatement. The little Sentret looked about ready to bounce off the walls.

"Celestic City." I had remembered seeing that on my map, a little bit farther in the direction opposite I would go when I hit the major fork in the road. "Barro and I are going to do some field research on the east side of Mt. Coronet." Ah, of course. Malachi seemed like the researcher type. That made it certain, then. "I saw you over here lying down, though, so I thought I'd come say hi."

"Well, I was drifting in and out of sleep," I lied, "So I'll keep walking with you as far as we can, alright?" It would be nice to have some company, in the least. I reached over to get my backpack, and Theo leapt up onto my outstretched arm, climbing his way up to my head to rest there, watching the Drifloon opposite him. I could feel his rather long and fluffy tail swishing back and forth over my back. The more time I spent with him, the more cute he seemed. It was nice, to have a traveling partner, but I didn't necessarily want to get too close. Not when I was so hell-bent on leaving.

"Sounds awesome." Malachi agreed. "We're off, then?" With a nod, I walked alongside him. The journey really did seem a lot easier when someone else was around. A couple of hours flew by, and the sun was beginning to set. It was actually a calming sight; there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and everything was peaceful. I was almost sad to think about leaving. Maybe this _was_ the place for me...

"Well, here's where I drop off." Malachi announced. I pulled myself out of my reverie to fully take note of the sign that denoted both paths; the left to Celestic City and the right to Veilstone City. "You have a good night, alright? I hear there's a Contest in Veilstone in a couple days. You were always the performer type, anyway. Is that why you're going?"

"Contest?" The question was out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Yeah, we used to watch them on the TVs at lunch all the time, remember? You always wanted to try it out, and-" he cut himself off. "Ssh. Listen." We were both still, as he looked past me; I was almost too scared to look. "There's a Pokemon back there."

"Is it gonna hurt us?" I asked, feeling worried. Maybe this world was dangerous at night. But then why would Malachi be out here...?

"No. Silly." Malachi offered me a half-smirk. "You're a joker, sometimes, Val. Look," he nodded. I turned. "It's a Sneasel. Do you mind?"

"A...Sneasel." I repeated, watching the dark-colored Pokemon push its way out of the grass. "Oh, uh, no. Go on ahead." What he was about to do was made almost instantly clear as Malachi pointed to the wild Pokemon.

"Alright, Barro. We're going to catch us a Sneasel. Get out there and use Gust!" Before I could look back, Malachi's Drifloon had shot past Theo and me, his strings whirling around faster than I had thought possible.

The Sneasel was a little caught off-guard and got blown back. Meanwhile, I was scrambling trying to get my backpack off my back while also trying to keep Theo from falling off my head. He hopped down lightly to the ground to accommodate and I dug out my Pokedex, pointing it at the new Pokemon.

_A Sneasel scales trees by punching its hooked claws into the bark. It seeks out unguarded nests and steals eggs for food while the parents are away._

"Careful, Barro!" Malachi called. I jerked my head up to see Drifloon spin backwards, out of control. "Those claws are sharp- hit him with an Astonish!" When Barro shot forward again, careening its body into the wild Sneasel, it released a loud screech, causing the opposing Pokemon to fail its dodge attempt and slide across the ground. "That should do it, then." Malachi said, more quietly. He reached into his pocket, drew out a Pokeball, and tossed it; the ball encapsulated the Sneasel and fell to the ground. It shook once, twice, three times, and was still. "Awesome! We caught our first Pokemon!"

Barro happily rubbed its head against Malachi's arm as the boy approached to pick up the Pokeball. "Hey, congratulations." I nodded, following him with Theo in tow.

"Thanks, Valerie." Malachi smiled. "Well..." he paused. "I suppose this actually is goodbye, then."

Well, that made me feel awful. I watched his head hang slightly as he looked down at the Pokeball in his hand. "Hey," I offered, gently. "It's... it's not goodbye, you know? We've got our whole lives ahead of us." I smiled, trying to come off as sympathetic. "We'll see each other again."

"...Yeah, you're right." Malachi mirrored my half-smile. "Sorry for getting all weird there for a second. You know, Val," he paused for a moment. "You've always been like a sister to me. You've always helped me out, and just..." Before I could stop him, Malachi stepped forward to hug me. "Thanks."

I reached up to put my arms around him in return. It was nice to actually get a hug from someone like this, a genuine...well, he was my friend. I'd call him that. "Y-you're w-" I hadn't noticed how tight my throat had gotten. Releasing a shaky breath, I choked back a sob. I couldn't cry in front of him. "You're welcome." I repeated after steadying myself. "I'll always be available, Malachi."

"See you." He hugged me a little tighter before letting go, then walked past. "You know where to find me." he added as he headed down the road opposite me.

"Yeah."

I had walked until I was absolutely exhausted, a few hours into the night. I could tell by the moon that it was almost midnight, so I would get a good amount of sleep providing I actually slept well outside. I chose a spot a little ways off the path hidden by some trees to roll out my sleeping bag, using my backpack as a pillow to look up at the stars. It was hardly a few seconds before I could feel tears running across my cheeks.

"Sentret?" I glanced over to see Theo there, holding out the scarf I'd let him carry. I shook my head.

"That's yours. Thanks, though."

"Tret. Sentret." He crawled forward, laying his body next to mine and wrapping his tail around my arm, his tiny hands holding onto my side. I smiled, blinking past the tears to reach over and pull him close, rolled over onto my side.

"Thanks, Theo." I murmured. I really wasn't alone, I decided then. Even if Theo was my only friend for this entire journey, that might be okay. In fact, it would be more than okay. It would make it bearable.

_A/N: Look, it's all cute and stuff. Gah. Anyway, I can now mark 'someone catches a Pokemon' off the checklist. I do believe this is coming along quite nicely. I'm going to hesitantly say new chapters will be released on Tuesdays now, since it's my most free day, and then I can make a buffer and get ahead. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading._


	4. Can't be Worse Than This

Save the world, huh? Aside from that, it's save two worlds. That's quite the responsibility_. I sat on the edge of a skyscraper, the terrifying drop only feet away from me. _Not to mention you're taking care of a Pokemon now.

_Somewhere in me, I knew the voice was right. I tilted my head up, letting the endless rain of the city pour over my face, closing my eyes to keep it out. _Besides, this world isn't that bad. You run your life dry with dancing and partying, and what could be better than that? _A lot of things, I reminded myself. Friendship, perhaps._

_Almost as suddenly as I had been there, the world spun and lurched forward. I sat on a pier, overlooking the ocean. Then again, this world really wasn't all that bad. Not when I considered its sunrises and sunsets, or the way it was friendly to me. But it was foreign, and I didn't really know anyone. I had... well, did I have a reason to go back?_

Yes. You're an anomaly. You don't fit in this world; you weren't born of it. You will never belong.

Just as you never belonged on Earth.

_No. I'll... I'll save it._

How the hell do you plan on doing that?

It was about mid-day the next day that something of note happened on my journey. With Theo happily bouncing alongside me, energy I couldn't quite muster, I paused when I saw movement in the trees ahead of me. "Theo, be careful-!" I tried, but it was just a bit late; the Pokemon launched its way out of the bushes at my Sentret before I could give him ample warning. Caught by surprise, Theo was thrown back onto the ground, and the opposing Pokemon stood proudly over it. I scrambled to pull out my Pokedex, and pointed it at the yellow-tinted creature.

_Drowzee. It can tell what people are dreaming by sniffing with its big nose. It loves fun dreams._

A...dream reader Pokemon? I didn't know Pokemon could do things like that. I was entranced for a moment, but my head shot up when I heard Sentret cry out.

"Treeeet!" the Drowzee had punched, and Sentret flew back again.

"Theo!" I gasped. Ohgod, remember what Malachi did... "Are you okay?"

Loyally, Theo stood, nodding his head, looking a little out of it. He set my scarf down, his eyes narrowed at the Drowzee, and raised up on his tail. He wanted to fight.

"Right then, uh..." The Pokedex had to have a section for this. I concentrated- oh. This sort of knowledge was in the back of my memory. "Alright, Theo, start us off with a scratch!" I called. Sentret bounced forward, claws extended towards its enemy-

and was shoved away almost effortlessly by the Drowzee. Theo hit the ground and whimpered a quiet "Seeen..." before he closed his eyes.

"T-Theo-!" I failed as a Trainer, I couldn't do this, there was absolutely no way. Ignoring the other Pokemon for now, I rushed forward, taking Sentret's body into my arms. "Nonono. Please don't...d-don't..." Pokemon didn't die. Pokemon fainted. They didn't die. Gods, I hoped that was true.

"Drowwww-zeee." I lifted my head to see the Pokemon in front of me, nose raised. It held up its arms and my eyes locked with the Drowzee's. They spun hypnotizingly and I was immediately unable to look away; the world warped in and out, but I couldn't break eye contact. Those eyes were absolutely mesmerizing to look at, their depth and...did they have that much color before? Color... wonderful, amazing, beautiful...color...

Nothing else mattered.

"Hey, are you okay?" I was jolted from my reverie by a younger female voice. Blinking my eyes, I shook my head as if I were ridding myself of a headache- one that was actually starting to develop, I noticed, as the light raced back into my system. The source of the voice, I learned, was from a girl whose long blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She probably stood almost five feet tall, but she was thin, and looked only to be about thirteen. "That Drowzee really took a toll on both of ya, huh?" she asked, giggling as I stood groggily. Her disposition turned serious, though, as she saw Theo in my hands. "We're gonna have to go to the Pokecenter for your Sentret, though."

"Yeah..." I vaguely agreed. It was then I noticed the Pokemon next to her; a blue-colored, round-shaped rabbit like Pokemon with a crooked tail, a bulb at the end. "Uh..." I looked over to where the Drowzee had been and it lay defeated, knocked out. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome! Azumarill helped out, though." she grinned. "Her name is Mai. Mine's Kamryn. It's nice to meet you!"

Well, she was excitable. I nodded once to her. "Valerie. Do...do Pokemon normally act that way?"

"Not really. That's why it really threw me off. Hm, I figured you'd know that. Did its psychic powers mess with your head or somethin'?" Kamryn asked, tilting her head, her hair spilling out over her nearly-bare shoulder. It was tank top weather, and her spaghetti strapped top was definitely taking advantage of that. At least her assumption was a quick way out.

"Yeah, maybe so. I'm... not really from here, either, so a lot of stuff is still new to me."

"Well then. That's not your Drowzee? Hm, I'm tempted to take it with us. Buncha weird stuff's been going on in Veilstone, and-"

"You live in Veilstone?" I interrupted. "That's where I'm headed."

My abrupt subject change didn't seem to faze the girl. "Awesome! Well, like I said. I think I wanna take this Drowzee back with us. You got a Pokeball on you?"

"Oh, uh." I shifted Theo to one arm to slip my backpack off my shoulders and retrieve an empty Pokeball. "Here you go." I held it out to her.

"No, you found him. You capture him. 'Sides, we're probably just gonna get him checked out at the Pokecenter, and they might keep him around." She seemed to reflect on that thought for a moment before shrugging. "Plus, psychic Pokemon are really powerful!"

I hesitated. I wasn't particularly interested in capturing the Pokemon that had hypnotized me, but if Kamryn thought it was the right thing to do, I wouldn't argue with her. Besides, having her along the way during the final leg of the journey to Veilstone would be refreshing, to say the least. Theo was company, but Kamryn could actually speak my language. I could handle that.

Along the way, Kamryn held her assumption that I had suffered some sort of amnesia, and was more than happy to tell me a few more bits about Pokemon, and about Contests, which _did_ sound like a bit of fun, to me, to watch. She also told me a little about herself; she was thirteen, as I had guessed, and lived in Veilstone. She liked to explore outside the city a lot, which explained why she was out so far where I had been.

"So do you still live with your parents, then?" I asked offhandedly. It quieted her down a lot; her usual spunkiness dissipated almost immediately. "...I'm sorry I asked. Don't worry about it."

"It's okay." Kamryn smiled up at me, but I could read that it was a pained smile. It stung. "Me and Mai here are best of friends, and they know me really well at the Pokecenter. I help out there a lot, too. It's no hotel room, but...you know. Better than an alleyway."

I felt absolutely terrible. How in the world could I have brought up such a sensitive topic? I searched for a way out, and came up with nothing good. "So, uh, the Contest. Tell me more about it?"

"Yeah!" she seemed to brighten considerably. "Coordinaters come from all over with their Pokemon, like I told you before. They train really hard to choreograph moves with their Pokemon to show off that Pokemon's impressive qualities. For some Pokemon, it's strength, and for others it's beauty, for example. I, uh. I'm actually entered, for the first time this year."

"But that's awesome." I told her with a slight nod. "I'll be sure to come watch." I wasn't sure I had the time, but dammit, I would make time. She was a cute kid. If I hadn't been an only child, she would have been a wonderful little sister to have.

"You will? Thank you, Valerie!" she grinned. I couldn't help but grin back. It was contagious.

When we reached Veilstone, it was late afternoon. The Pokecenter was, thankfully, on the edge of town, so we headed there first. The Pokemon Center itself on the outside reminded me of a hospital, but the inside was more welcoming. The walls were painted in warm colors, and the nurse greeted us like I had never been greeted in a hospital.

"Welcome to the Veilstone Pokecenter! It's so nice to see you again, Kamryn! Did you bring a friend today?" The woman's hair was a pinkish color, dyed or not I couldn't tell, and put up in pigtails that drooped down to her shoulders and back up again to be pinned down once more. Interesting, to say the least.

"This is Valerie, Nurse Joy." Kamryn responded, her Azumarill happily bouncing off to go play with another nearby Pokemon I didn't entirely recognize. "And this is her Sentret. They ran into a Drowzee, and came out with a couple scrapes.

"Oh? Does this Sentret have a name?" Nurse Joy asked me, holding out her arms. I nodded, passing him across to her.

"Theo. Is...is he going to be okay?" I asked, worried.

"Of course! He'll be better in no time!" the nurse assured me. I felt relief; I would still have to apologize to my Pokemon, but at least he would be okay.

"Oh," Kamryn said, matter-of-factly. "The Pokemon they ran into was actually acting kind of strange. That Drowzee... well, I think it intended to actually hurt Valerie, but I got there in time to stop it. We caught it, and brought it with us... do you think you could have a look?"

"I'd be happy to." I handed the Pokeball the Drowzee was in to the nurse as she spoke and she walked back towards the desk. "Give us just a few hours and we'll have Theo up and ready to go, and I'll see what I can do for the Drowzee."

"Thank you so much, ma'am." Kamryn bowed her head slightly. I respected her; she was a very well-spoken girl, especially for thirteen. "Well, Valerie? Would you like to see the city while we wait?"

I reached out, on impulse, to ruffle her hair. She let out a cry of surprise, and then laughed. "Of course. Lead the way." I agreed. She went on to do just that, taking me along Veilstone's major roads and showing me its bigger buildings as well as smaller shops. When we passed by a cafe, I stopped her for a moment. "Wait here." I ducked into the stall and returned with wraps for both of us to have as a meal; it really caught her off guard.

"Are...are you sure? I can't take this." Kamryn seemed hesitant. When I insisted, she threw her arms around me, hiding her face against my shoulder. "Thank you so much." she said, taking a tiny bite and looking overjoyed. "You're...a great friend, Valerie."

"You've done me more than one favor." I responded. "I owed you. I'm also getting a hotel room for as long as the Contest lasts, and you and Mai are staying with us. No arguing."

We met a few other Trainers and Coordinaters along the way, some of which knew Kamryn and some of which had traveled into town for various reasons. The Contest was a hot topic no matter who we talked to, and I saw kinds of Pokemon I hadn't ever seen before. We returned to the Pokecenter that night, and I was given Theo back, inside his Pokeball. The nurse pulled Kamryn aside to talk to her, and I assured her I'd be back shortly. I was only gone for about twenty minutes, long enough to walk a few buildings down to rent a hotel room for the next couple of nights; the Contest would last two days, total. When I returned, however, Kamryn looked more than a little upset. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking worried.

"I've got something to tell you."

_A/N: omgcliffhanger or something. So yeah, pacing's coming along nicely. I've got a lot going on right now, but I think Tuesdays are a fairly good day to update. See you next week!_


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